"Wouldyoudomeasmallfavor-youandtheseothers?
"
"Wecantry,Mrs。Maloney。
"
"Well,
"shesaid。
"Hereyouallare,andgoodfriendsofdearPatrickstoo,andhelingtocatchthemanwhokilledhim。Youmustbeterriblehungrybynowbecauseitslongastyoursuertime,andIknowPatrickwouldneverforgiveme,Godblesshissoul,ifIallowedyoutoremaininhishousewithoutofferingyoudecenthositality。Whydontyoueatuthatlambthatsintheoven?Itllbecookedjustrightbynow。
"
"Wouldntdreamofit,
"SergeantNoonansaid。
"Please,
"shebegged。
"Pleaseeatit。PersonallyIcouldnttouchathing,certainlynotwhatsbeeninthehousewhenhewashere。Butitsallrightforyou。Itdbeafavortomeifyoudeatitu。Thenyoucangoonwithyourworkagainafterwards。
"
Therewasagooddealofhesitatingamongthefourolicemen,buttheywereclearlyhungry,andintheendtheywereersuadedtogointothekitchenandhelthemselves。Thewomanstayedwhereshewas,listeningtothemseakingamongthemselves,theirvoicesthickandsloybecausetheirmouthswerefullofmeat。
"Havesomemore,Charlie?
"
"No。Betternotfinishit。
"
"Shewantsustofinishit。Shesaidso。Bedoingherafavor。
"
"Okaythen。Givemesomemore。
"
"ThatsthehellofabigclubtheguymusthaveusedtohitoorPatrick,
"oneofthemwassaying。
"Thedocsayshisskullwassmashedalltoiecesjustlikefromasledgehammer。
"
"Thatswhyitoughttobeeasytofind。
"
"ExactlywhatIsay。
"
"Whoeverdoneit,theyrenotgoingtobecarryingathinglikethataroundwiththemlongerthantheyneed。
"
Oneofthembelched。
"Personally,Ithinkitsrighthereontheremises。
"
"Probablyrightunderourverynoses。Whatyouthink,Jack?
"
Andintheotherroom,MaryMaloneybegantogiggle。